The Nun's Story - Book Review

 

The Nun’s Story (1956)

By Kathryn Hulme

 

I had seen this book several times at library sale and finally this time I chose it, or as I like to say, it chose me.

It is the story of a nun who is gifted with intelligence and natural abilities but struggles with the uninvited attention and recognition those abilities attract from others inside the nunnery.

The nunnery is a place of singularization, meaning those who are indoctrinated into the order must give up any and everything attaching them to the outside world, including name and family. A nun’s only aim, and desire is to please God.

“You have only one aim, one constant dedication, one unique desire in the religious life,” she said. “It is to please God. Nothing else matters, absolutely nothing else.” Pg.92

And so, in trying to shed the old Gabrielle Van der Mal to become Sister Luke, registered as #1072, she makes a valiant effort to please God.

Had she not already been trained in medical sciences by her doctor father she might have found the transition to becoming a nun easier. Her medical training had taught her to analyze, question and seek answers/solutions to questions before her.  Whereas she was looking to help humanity, the nunnery was more focused on pleasing God through prayer, ritual, sacrifice, and obedience to nunnery Rule.

So, the novel is a story of conflicting ideas manifested in the thoughts and actions of one intelligent yet innocent nun.

I am more than half-way through the book; on page 192 of 339. I am most definitely reminded of my own shortcomings in humility and humbleness. I feel as if I’m learning lesson’s about how to be a better person and serve God unconditionally, while at the same time meeting a soul who has walked the walk.

What must have made this book so appealing to the reading public back in 1956 was the graceful way in which the author opens the barred doors to the nunnery, giving a grand tour of the mysteries surrounding this sacred order of female sisterhood.

What started out as a novel full of rules and restrictions has turned into a story of what it means for a woman to dedicate her life to a religious sisterhood for pleasing God. A Nun’s dedication to the nunnery is as much an emotional and psychological sacrifice as it is a physical one. And I suppose it is believed all the sacrifices will lead to a spiritual awakening to God’s order.

“When God orders, He gives.”

This is one of the many great quotes I’ve come across in the book.

I may end up taking as many notes and copying as many lines from this book as I had from the novel “Balzac” by Stefan Zweig. In both novels (biographical) the main characters are gifted persons limited by their environment and circumstances. Yes, Balzac had many faults which led to many failures, whereas Sister Luke’s faults seem to be the shortcomings of her religious order. But both struggled to harness in and downplay their gifted skills.

Example: when she is asked to fail a test to placate the feelings, emotions, and placement of a lesser knowledgeable sister, it feels like the order is condoning lying in order to achieve humility and humbleness.

Had the order recognized Sister Luke’s superior training in the medical field as a Gift from God, they might have used her advanced skills in ways to please God, instead of taking steps to dumb-down her skills so that no attention be given her as an individual. (Singularization blinded the order to God’s many Gifts)

I will give credit to the intelligence and warmth of Superior Mothers Emmanuel and Mathilde. It seems they were wise enough to see through the jealousies and phlegmatic (cool, calm, unemotional) ways of others in the order.

“We need combative souls, Sister Luke, not simply phlegmatic ones who accept everything without question. You are one of us who have a taste for struggle. God would not have put you through such tests were this not so. You must count on his graces. Never forget that He tests His real friends more severely than the lukewarm ones. Pg. 132

There are so many lessons this book imparts if only readers take the time to digest them fully.

I believe the film may hint at a romantic relationship between Sister Luke and the Doctor. So far, I haven’t really noticed it in the book. Sure, the Doctor admires her medical skills and ways of administrative organization in the hospital, but any other admiration appears only as a friend concerned for her well-being.

As of now, I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars. It’s not a book I find myself jumping back to with excitement after perfusing other books, but it does have an inviting pull on me the further in I get. Although it’s about nuns and the nunnery, it is not a boring read at all. As Gabrielle’s father said, “It is a life against nature.”

So, is it the story, the writing, or just my curiosity which makes this book so enjoyable to read.  I would have to say the writing and how the author engages the reader. As I stated earlier in this review, author Kathryn Hulme “opens the barred doors to the nunnery and gives a grand tour of the mysteries surrounding this sacred order of female sisterhood.”

I am one of those readers who loves to be taken on a tour of the unknown. There is so much satisfaction along the way when you realize you are being led by a master author who shows things, allowing you to fill in your own answers to earlier mysteries. She shows instead of tells. Writing 101…

Over time the reader’s mind realizes what is and what is not meant by the many thoughts and actions taking place in the story. It is then that one sees the motive behind an author’s assault on its victim’s reading senses.

Yes, I have grown more, yet again, while reading a novel written by a master author.

June 16, 2023 - 9:07am

I just finished this book and feel as if an understanding, solitary friend has stepped out through my front door, leaving me in peace and serenity.

I suppose watching the life of a nun is like watching someone perform tai chi or meditation; peaceful, calm, balanced.

I felt so familiar with this novel. I wrote down many passages from it. I can’t believe actress Katharine Hepburn could ever fill the shoes of Sister Luke while portraying her in film. 

Author Kathryn Hulme got it right when she kept much of what Sister Luke thought very private and silent to her outside world. What I learned is how powerful and uplifting the silence and solitude of a nun’s life can be. Again, like that of a meditator who sees the world through a centered lens.

Discipline is what prepares one to withstand the storms of life. Discipline and drawing closer to one’s God Almighty. Sister Luke had a calling for helping others in need. She had the smarts and skills to help medically. And she had the courage to go where others had never gone. People recognized her strength and genuine love for helping others and admired who she was beyond being a nurse.

The doctor recognized her gift of “giving her all.” He told her, in so many ways, she didn’t belong in a nunnery but in the world, helping to care for and heal it. I believe she knew this to be true, and it was then that she began drawing closer to thoughts of leaving the nunnery.

Overall, I liked this book. It had a muted excitement about it. I don’t think it’s for everybody, especially us men, because it is written mostly from one female character’s thoughts. There are times as a man I felt Sister Luke should be more aggressive and direct in what she would and would not think, say, or avoid saying or doing. 

But then you understand she’s in a place with rules and rituals you’re expected to follow, or there’s punishment/penance. The nunnery brings to mind life in a prison where inmates must adhere to many rules. Silence can be a blessing and a curse.

I suppose it seems Sister Luke, like anyone new to any environment, was curious about many of the nunnery practices. What set her apart is she questioned them. Whether she did openly or in thought, she questioned them, and in turn questioned God’s method of charity through them.

There was one quote early in the book hinting to me the sole purpose of the nunnery and that was, “to please God.” How they chose to do it was where Sister Luke questioned and had difficulty accepting.

The book took a turn once she left the Congo. It went from a missionary story to a WWII story, both taking place in hospitals. But the new environment included war, and that gave this sequel a different aspect. It also gave Sister Luke a different view of a world in need of care and healing. She was confronted with healing her own hatred for the enemy.

Had Sister Luke stayed in the Congo, she might’ve stayed in the nunnery longer, but I believe eventually her nursing skills would have pulled her toward civilian life. Nurse over Nun.

The writing is A+, the story is A, and the overall synchronicity of story, writing and message is perhaps A-. There were times it could have sunk into B territory, but because it didn’t go Hollywood on me the book saved itself.

So, I give it four plus stars. Alright, 5 stars, because it gave me peace while dealing with my friend Deanguelo’s life coming to a close. Like the book “Vein of Iron,” when my brother Will was closing out his life. Writers either knowingly or unknowingly provide us a deeper understanding of the challenges we find ourselves going through in life as we partake in their storytelling.

I forgot to say the book does have some dated sentences and words, as well as relevant persons of the era who are no longer mentioned in modern times. Some good history lessons in this book.

 

Vidkun Quisley - Norway's Benedict Arnold (traitor)

Simba – Lion in Swahili

Meaning a person who can procure something – Procoteur

Meaning a clergy is leaving the church – laicization

Meaning cool, calm, unemotional – phlegmatic